Fortune favours Van Gaal as Hecking rues luck

• Louis van Gaal happy with victory despite nervous finish at Old Trafford
• Wolfsburg's Dieter Hecking rues his team's luck in defeat
• Winning home games is key to progressing according to German coach

Louis van Gaal, Manchester United manager
I have to say I was very pleased with my team in the first half, except for the first five minutes of course. When you are a goal down and create so many chances but cannot finish them – that is unlucky.

Like I've said many times, you also need luck. We started the second half really well, showed some nice spirit and scored a beautiful goal, but after that suddenly we were not good any more. Unfortunately it was not so good after we scored the second.

I think we gave away too much to Wolfsburg, allowing them to return into the game. I cannot understand how we can give away the ball so cheaply. At the same time our team spirit was really good and we did not allow them to create many chances.

Dieter Hecking, Wolfsburg coach
First of all I would like to congratulate Manchester United. I think we had a good game – we started really well and managed to surprise United with an early goal but then we were unlucky to concede an equaliser shortly before the break. It is unlucky to give away such a penalty. In the second half United scored a very lucky goal, while we were on top for the last 25 minutes but could not convert the chances we created.

We were playing with confidence for those last 25 minutes, we tried hard to get the result. In the end all we lacked was a bit of luck. However, I am staying optimistic that we can build on tonight's fine performance. The situation in the group is tricky with all the teams now on three points. Now we have two games against PSV to establish a base for qualifying. As Louis van Gaal put it yesterday – you have to win your home games.